​ Ninth Circuit Rules in Favor of the Freedom to Marry

ACLU of Nevada “thrilled that love has won out again”

October 7, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today in favor of marriage equality and struck down same-sex marriage bans in Nevada and Idaho. The court held that the laws violated the Equal Protection Clause because they “deny lesbians and gays who wish to marry persons of the same sex a right they afford to individuals who wish to marry persons of the opposite sex.”

“With today’s Ninth Circuit ruling overturning Nevada’s discriminatory definition of marriage, every loving couple in Nevada must now have their marriage recognized by law,” said Tod Story, Executive Director for the ACLU of Nevada. “Today we celebrate the court’s recognition that love is not limited by tradition, definition, or gender, and that every person and couple is equal under the law. We are thrilled that love has won out again.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed a friend of the court brief in the Nevada case on October 25, 2013. The case, Sevcik v. Sandoval, was filed by Lambda Legal and challenged Nevada’s restriction of marriage to different-sex couples, which was added to the state’s constitution in 2002. In its amicus brief, the ACLU of Nevada argues that Nevada’s ban against same-sex marriage should be struck down because the “exclusion burdens the fundamental right to marry.”

Once the mandate is issued by the Ninth Circuit, the ruling is expected to bring the number of marriage equality states to 35 in short order.

The Ninth Circuit’s decision is available at:
http://aclunv.org/files/9c-marriageruling-nv-id.pdf

The ACLU of Nevada’s amicus brief in Sevcik v. Sandoval is available at:
http://aclunv.org/files/aclunv-amicus-nv-marriage-ban2.pdf